Sal Davila passed away over a month ago but his impact on local soccer will last for many years to come.Family photo

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Sal Davila has been gone for over a month, but the impact the longtime New Dorp resident made on the sport of soccer on Staten Island will be felt for years to come.

The list of Davila’s accomplishments were many off the pitch, including service in the U.S. Air Force; a 20-year career in the NYPD, where he attained the rank of detective; 18 years as a special investigator with the attorney general’s office; and post commander of the Kells-Grennie Post, American Legion. Not to mention a 49-year marriage to his wife, Gloria.

And it was because of his wife — a native of Spain whom Davila met while serving overseas in the Air Force — that he became involved in the sport.

“Sal grew up in Manhattan at a time when all the boys were playing baseball; soccer was nothing in the States back then,” she said. “He learned about soccer by coming to Spain. My father used to take him to soccer games every Sunday. My brother was a professional referee, and my brother was a professional player.”

Once the couple took up residence in the city — briefly in Bay Ridge before settling in New Dorp for over 40 years — they started a family that included sons Michael and Patrick and daughter Denise.

“But the kids had nothing to do,” recalled Gloria. “So he went about making a team for them to play soccer.”

He approached St. Charles pastor Monsignor Robert Kelly with the idea of starting a soccer program. Davila received the OK, but was told by the parish there was no funding for it. So the Davilas took it upon themselves to buy T-shirts and dye them different colors for the various intramural clubs.

In 1978, Davila joined Joe Licata and Sal Parello in establishing the Staten Island Soccer League (SISL); and when oldest son Michael enrolled at St. Joseph by-the-Sea HS, Davila was the driving force behind the foundation of both the boys’ and girls’ programs at the school, where he served as coach.

“He always put the kids first,” recalled former Staten Island Academy athletic director and coach Pete Rapp, who worked with Davila in the early days of the SISL, which inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2008. “Whenever he was organizing things, it was always for the benefit of the kids.”

“He was never the kind of man to be derogatory,” said Vin Montagna, whom Davila asked to coach the Sea JV boys’ team before turning the varsity reins over to him. “He was a gentleman in every aspect of the word. He loved kids, he loved doing as much as he could for them.”

Aside from coaching teams and building programs, Davila was also a renowned soccer official “who always had his sweatsuit handy in case he was needed to ref in an emergency,” noted New Dorp HS girls’ soccer coach and longtime ref Nick Kvasic.

“Whenever we would have to go to the referee association meetings in Queens, it was always Sal’s responsibility to drive,” added Kvasic, reflecting on fun trips with Davila and the likes of Parello, Jimmy Durkin and Jack Hynes. “Sal would sometimes get upset and want someone else to drive, but we told him if we ever got pulled over — since he was a detective — we’d be able to get off. We always laughed about it.”

Kvasic also pointed out that in the 1970s, Davila “was instrumental in starting the Staten Island United travel program. He coached the first under-10 team and I had the under-8s. He was always about volunteering. He was the guy always willing to say ‘yes.’”

Around the same time, the New York Cosmos were conducting tryouts on Randall’s Island, and it was Davila who made sure his home borough was represented.

“He made phone calls to the Cosmos,” said Kvasic, one of the Islanders who got the chance to work out with Pele because of Davila’s tenacity, with the pictures to prove it. “He was always a guy who would speak up for Staten Island groups.

“If he didn’t already have a contact, Sal made sure to make a connection.”

Of course, his greatest connection was with Gloria. And while she may have lost some cherished family photos and keepsakes when her basement was flooded due to Hurricane Sandy, most memories need no physical documentation.

“He was a terrific guy, very warm and affectionate, and very educated,” she said. “He was a good husband, father and provider — always working two or three jobs to support the family and send his kids to college. Just a true gentleman.” 